So how will the technology evolve from an early adopter buzzword to the mainstream market? Here are four trends to watch.

Less on What and More on Why

We have found that people want their smart homes to offer tangible benefits, from the cost savings of controlling home energy usage to the peace of mind of knowing kids (and pets) are safe at home.
 
There were some growing pains, which were to be expected, as companies sought the right way to market these new products, but as the target audience has expanded, companies have appropriately focused less on introducing complicated new gadgets around what a product can do and more on why a consumer needs it.
 
Insurance Agencies Investing in the Smart Home

Two out of five insurance agencies are invested in some kind of program with a connected device maker in 2015, according to Accenture.

We’ll continue to see this trend because security — and the peace of mind that comes with it — is both a main driver of smart home adoption and a top reason homeowners purchase insurance. This means there is an opportunity to align the benefits and offer consumers an additional incentive to purchase technology (e.g., discounts on home insurance).

The result? Insurance providers will become a resource offering that extra mile in protection, smart home providers will have another revenue channel and consumers will gain extra peace of mind at a discount.

More Strategic Partnerships Among Companies

Partnerships are key for companies of all sizes to spur growth. And coopetition is especially prevalent in the smart home industry as it’s common for two companies to partner in one area and compete in another. Just look at partnerships between companies like Google and Amazon.

But the biggest hurdle facing smart home companies today isn’t other companies — it’s a lack of consumer understanding and education. To overcome that hurdle, companies need to band together and technologies must operate together seamlessly so consumers can pick and choose the devices that best fit their needs. 

The Ecosystem Drives Growth (Again)

While the first smartphone debuted back in 1992, it took more than 15 years for Apple to release the first iPhone with the incorporation of the app ecosystem, but once it did, the concept took off.

It’s likely that we’ll see a similar occurrence with the smart home – adoption will be driven by a robust ecosystem that incorporates multiple connected devices and provides an integrated experience. For the smart home, the increasingly powerful cloud will drive this forward and result in capabilities we can’t even begin to predict.
 
 
Greg Roberts serves as the vice president of marketing for Icontrol Networks. Roberts started with Icontrol in 2006 and leads all corporate marketing and communications initiatives for the company.